


Bedtime Story

by Merrloin (Kaylaseen)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Character Death, Dragons, Fantasy, Gen, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Intentionally Bad Spelling & Grammar, Not really I'm tagging it for the lack of punctuation, Original Character Death(s), Other, POV First Person, Shapeshifting, Welsh as a stand-in language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21982762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaylaseen/pseuds/Merrloin
Summary: The Darkness lives in the mountains where the shadows sleep.It hears your troubles and your sorrows.If you ask it, it will come.
Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Character(s)





	Bedtime Story

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in a fit of inspiration in about 30 minutes. I hope you enjoy.

I am so old that I saw the birth of a civilization in my valley

I watched them grow, and I took a liking to a family of shepherds that would come up my mountain to graze their sheep (very soft sheep, with straight horns)

I came to my mountains because my parents were killed when I was young (by humans) and I had to flee to save myself

I know the humans who killed my family

These were not them

My mate and I watched them, imagined what they would say to us if they knew we were here

They didn't know we were here, and I wanted to keep it that way; I liked them, but I did not trust them

Not yet.

We bore a hatchling, a sparking electrical wyrmling we called Rayne

We went out; my mate to hunt, me to collect the tasty greens from the forest on the other side of the mountains

Rayne was not there when I got back

I assumed the worst; I listened frantically for my baby

I heard her

I flew

I approached, but she did not sound afraid or hurt

She sounded... pleased?

I crested a hill to see my baby playing with a human child

There were no other humans

I had a choice to make

I chose mercy

I softly called to Rayne; she turned, shocked

The human did not move

The human began to wail

I scolded Rayne; she was not old enough to be around humans, she could've been killed

I heard a gasp

It wasn't the human child

I rumbled as I turned; the male shepherd had come up the hill to calm his baby

I bared my teeth, and held my hatchling closer

He did the same

I closed my lips, and he mirrored me

He then spoke in his human tongue, which I did not yet understand

"Do not speak the human tongues when not in human form, they cannot know we know." my dam had said

I knew one word

He pointed to me, and said "darkness"

I smiled at him, nodded, and flew away

It was close enough to truth

From then on, I allowed the shepherd family to see me from afar

They stayed on my mountain

I let them, for they were brave

The human child continued to stray too close to my home

So I strayed closer to hers

One moonless night, I knocked on her door

The shepherd opened it, and invited me in

"When using diplomacy, ensure even ground."

So I came to them as a man

I had spent a few weeks learning their language

It was good enough for them

The shepherd and his wife did not recognize me

Their child, now less of a child, did

"Are you Tywyllwch?" she asked

I smiled

"I am Darkness." I said, echoing her

The shepherd's eyes widened

I had come to repay his kindness

I proposed a trade; I would protect their flocks from predator and environment, and they would provide me a sheep per season

I preferred my sheep sheared, which was convenient for them

I did not need the meat, but they insisted on a trade, so I relented

Their sheep were sweet

The child (Bleddyn) grew up and bore children, who bore children, and so on

I lost count of how many times

Each new child brought before me

Proper introductions for proper humans

The names run together

Not all of the descendants were shepherds

All knew of Tywyllwch

Darkness became a legend

"Go to where the shadows sleep in the mountains, there you will find Darkness. It will help you in the ways it can."

They kept my secret from those unworthy

A mostly young human walked into the darkness

She was Bleddyn's kin, Eira

She fell to her knees with her candle barely lit

She followed tradition, and so I did as well

"Child of Light, what brings you here to me?"

"My family is in need, Tywyll. The king has put more taxes on us than we can afford. We can no longer give you your sheep."

"What do you know of this king?"

"Only that he is not the king by birthright, but by marrying the queen. The queen is just, but has been beaten into silence by her lover."

A hiss escaped from me

"Is he from across my mountains?"

"I believe so, Tywyllwch. A war-like man from a war-like people."

I needed to confirm his identity

I took Eira with me to the outskirts of the city

"Look away, Eira, it can be sickening to see."

I was a man again, or rather, a crone, easily mistaken for her grandmother

She walked with me to the keep to have an audience with the king

As soon as I entered his throne room, I knew

I know the humans who killed my family, even after so long and so many... dilutions

I waited my turn, and I spoke to him

"My lord, my family can not bear the load of the current taxes. We are barely scraping by. Might we get a pardon, or some other way to ease our burden?"

He scoffed, and I resisted killing him then

"Take these sorry beggars out of my sight."

I couldn't resist

"You will pay in the end, my lord."

And I left with Eira in tow

For the next three years I spent most of my time in the city, scouting the political and social standings of the populace

I determined that those working trades were worthy of mercy, if a bit conceited

The peasants were well meaning and deserved better

The working class needed more than they had

Everyone else was less than worthless

I warned the good ones

"On the eve of the new moon, take all that you cannot live without and flee, for the city will not rise with the sun, but fall with the stars."

Each time my hair and eyes were the same; I hoped that they would talk and connect the dots

Some did

Others didn't

I warned them

On the day of the new moon, my mate and child were lying in wait

I transformed into a wild black stallion, a perfect specimen

I opened the gates and ran into the city

The guards, naturally, wanted to catch me to present to the king

I let them

That night, in the stables, I transformed into one of the stable boys

Then a guard

Then a cook

Then the queen's chamber-maid

I was assisting the queen with her nighttime routine

"My lady, have you heard of the legend of Tywyllwch?"

She turned to me

"I have, and I wish every day to go to it in order to ask for an escape from this life. I dread waking next to that man."

"What if I told you you didn't have to?"

Silence.

"What if I told you that the Darkness had come to you, instead?"

She dropped her mirror

It did not shatter

We switched clothes

I became her, and she became her maid

I signaled my daughter, and sent the queen away

She did not want to see what came next, no matter how much she hated her husband

I laid next to him

"My love, is it true that your ancestors were dragon-slayers?"

He boasted of the killing of my parents and the mounting of both their heads on his home castle's mantle

I gave myself the satisfaction of revealing myself before eating him

He tasted sour, like rotting limes

"You will pay in the end."

I almost felt bad for the servants who stayed

Almost.

I had warned them, after all

I signaled my mate (the humans called them Tân) and we razed the keep

Then the whole city

Above the hissing of the mixing of fire and ice, the stars fell

We were one in the eyes of the humans that day

Both Tywyllwch.

Both Darkness.

The sun rose on the husks of the once proud and beautiful city

I apologized to the queen; it had to be done

She agreed; she knew the only redemption was by rebirth

"The Darkness lives in the mountains where the shadows sleep.

It hears your troubles and your sorrows.

If you ask it, it will come.

The Darkness came upon the ancient city;

It's rage shook the stars from the sky.

It did not relent and lift its shadowy wings until the first rays of dawn started to creep upon the ground.

The darkness retreated back to the peaks, leaving ruin in its wake.

The Darkness lives in the mountains where the shadows sleep.

It hears your troubles and your sorrows.

If you ask it, it will come."


End file.
